Ship’s British doctor ‘amongst sick patients on MV Hondius’ after hantavirus outbreak | News World

A British crew member who’s sick on MV Hondius after a suspected rat-related virus outbreak is claimed to be the ship’s doctor.

Around 150 guests and crew, including 23 British nationals, are trapped on the cruise ship, which has been caught in the course of a disease outbreak while sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde.

The vessel run by Dutch Oceanwide Expeditions has been stuck within the Atlantic near Cape Verde in isolation while waiting for permission to approach after the deadly outbreak, which killed three people.

Now a passenger on board the cruise has claimed one in every of the sick crew members is the ship’s doctor.

Ann Lane, from Dublin, told the Irish Times that the ‘ship’s doctor and a member of the expedition staff are sick on board.’

She said the doctor, described as a younger British man, had been ‘fabulous’ and ‘treating everybody day and night.’

He had reportedly been sick for ‘quite just a few days, possibly since last Thursday,’ Ann said.

Oceanwide Expeditions said in its latest update that its plan is to proceed to either Gran Canaria or Tenerife within the Canary Islands after the evacuation of three individuals to the Netherlands.

Nonetheless, Spain has signalled that it is likely to be hesitant to let the cruise dockin its territory.

Spain’s health ministry said it’ll determine where the ship can stop at based on the evaluation of epidemiological data collected on board during its stop in Cape Verde.

‘Until then, the Ministry of Health won’t make any decision, as we’ve already informed the WHO [World Health Organisation],’ the ministry said.

WHO is claimed to be tracing individuals who were on an Airlink flight with a Dutch woman who had disembarked the ship at St Helena after her husband died on board the ship.

She had flown between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 25 and died in hospital, where she later tested positive for hantavirus.

Airlink, the South African carrier, has been told to notify the 82 passengers on board that they have to contact the health department, news agency AFP reports.

Oceanwide Expeditions said in an announcement on Tuesday evening: ‘The medical evacuation of two individuals currently requiring urgent medical care, and the person related to the guest who passed away on 2 May, will occur using two specialized aircraft which might be en path to Cape Verde.

‘From here, the patients are to be medically evacuated to the Netherlands. At this stage, we shouldn’t have an actual timeline.

‘Once these three individuals have been safely transferred from the vessel and are in transit to the Netherlands, the m/v Hondius will begin repositioning.

‘Our plan is to proceed to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, which is able to take 3 days of sailing. Discussions are ongoing with relevant authorities. This will likely be shared when concrete plans can be found.’

What’s hantavirus?

Hantaviruses are a family of rodent-bourne viruses, with each strain tied to a selected host species.

It’s spread when people come into contact with infected droppings, saliva, urine or nesting materials, but is extremely rare, and infrequently passed from individual to individual.

If caught, hantavirus can result in two foremost illnesses, one in every of which affects the lungs (Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome or HPS) and the opposite which affects the kidneys (Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome or HFRS).

The incubation period for this illness is mostly two to 4 weeks, based on the federal government, but can range from as little as two days to so long as eight weeks.

What are the symptoms?

Early symptoms of hantavirus are much like the flu, and include headaches, dizziness, chills in addition to abdominal problems like diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea.

If it progresses into Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, patients can experience headaches, dizziness, chills and abdominal problems like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

When you develop Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, initial symptoms will include intense headaches, back and abdominal pain, fever or chills, nausea, and blurred vision.

If the disease progresses, later symptoms include low blood pressure, acute shock (lack of blood flow), internal bleeding, and acute kidney failure, based on the CDC.

Hantavirus will be fatal, so it’s vital to control symptoms if you happen to imagine you’ve been exposed. There may be currently no cure for the disease.

Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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